hello tweeters.

since my broken wrist has been healing (finally! i have been in a
cast of one sort or another for six months!), i have been able to
do more research. this is good, of course, because i love working
on my research, but it is bad for you all, because i don't have as
much time as i once did to go birding.

despite everything, i managed to get to the montlake fill today for
an hour. after one week indoors, i had almost forgotten how much i
really love looking at birds and roaming around through the familiar
mud of the montlake fill.

perhaps the best sightings today were the two juvenile flickers
peering out of their nesthole, patiently waiting for their next
meal. the yellow corners of their beaks were visible, and their
faces still looked very juvenile; large dark eyes, and soft,
fluffy feathers with downy tips.

the most surprising bird of the day was the single lesser yellowlegs
wandering around the central pond, bobbing and leaning as he (?)
tried to get a better look at me. he was clearly in breeding plumage,
had a very thin dark-colored beak, and he even made several
high-pitched "tews" for me. [some of you may ask why i think this
bird is a male, so i will explain for you. i think this bird is a
male because he is late, apparently as a result of getting lost and
stubbornly refusing to ask anyone for directions! okay, okay, i guess
that's not funny, but i laughed.]

i also saw a female gadwall and her brood of two half-grown ducklings.
a female mallard was following them around (duckling envy?) so the
female gadwall repeatedly chased and tried to nip the mallard. and
i again saw the lone female canada goose and her
slightly-more-than-one-week-old clutch of four goslings. i think this
single mother has the youngest goslings at the fill. i also ran into
-- almost literally -- a very ill half-grown canada gosling. this
bird, which is starting to grown its adult plumage, allowed me to
approach very closely before it stood up drunkenly and stumbled
away. at first, i thought this bird had a broken leg, but after
watching it for a few minutes, i realized that there is absolutely
nothing wrong with its legs, nor its wings. the bird made a tight
circle around me, and walked back to where it had originally been
sitting, and fell onto the ground heavily. he shook his head, eyes
half-opened, looking like a human with a bad case of the flu. as
soon as i realized that this bird was ill, i walked away, but i am
having a hard time getting rid of that creepy feeling i always get
around sick birds.

the ducks are all losing their brilliant nuptial plumage and look
quite ratty right now and most of the waterfowl are flightless at
this time. some of the male mallards are almost female in appearance,
except for a vague blue tinge to their heads. the ground is littered
liberally with feathers, mostly from canada geese.

when i stopped for a few minutes to pull the obligatory 20-30 purple
loosestrife from the moist earth, i could hear the plaintive calling
of a lost canada gosling. i stopped and looked at the nearby
central pond, hoping that my gosling had found me once more, but
no such luck. this gosling was swimming away from me. i was
disappointed.

the weather at the fill was cool, breezy, humid, cloudy and there
were occasional sprinkles. i was there from 1230-130pm, and left
when the sprinkles were magically transformed into real obnoxious
rain. even though i wasn't there for long, i saw 45 species of
birds today. my bird list follows for those who might be interested;

pied-billed grebe
double-crested cormorant
great blue heron
mute swan, 1
canada goose
mallard
gadwall
northern shoveler
bufflehead, 1 female
hooded merganser, 1 female
bald eagle, 1
ring-necked pheasant
california quail
american coot
killdeer
lesser yellowlegs, 1
ring-billed gull
glaucous-winged gull
rock dove
mourning dove, 1
vaux's swift, 4+
anna's hummingbird
northern (red-shafted) flicker
downy woodpecker
willow flycatcher, 2+
american crow
tree swallow
violet-green swallow
cliff swallow
barn swallow
black-capped chickadee
bushtit
bewick's wren
marsh wren
american robin
european starling
cedar waxwing
savannah sparrow
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow
red-winged blackbird
brown-headed cowbird
house finch
american goldfinch
house (english) sparrow

non-avian list;

red-eared slider turtles, ranging in size from the palm of my hand
to a squashed football
frog/toad (i only heard a high-pitched squeek followed by a loud
splash)
tiger swallowtail butterflies

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
<><><>Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!<><><>